


People Don't Come Back From the Dead in Real Life

by Chaerring



Series: Siblings [2]
Category: A-Team (2010), Inception (2010), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), The Losers (2010), Thor (2011), White Collar
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:33:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/344105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaerring/pseuds/Chaerring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper mistakes Steve for Jake the first time she meets Steve almost two years after Jake's 'death'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	People Don't Come Back From the Dead in Real Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is set roughly during or around the Avengers, so approx. 2012 on the timeline, but before Pepper realizes Darcy's involved in the Avengers Initiative. I blame SHIELD's high security and need to know policies for what they do and do not tell each other.

No one told Pepper what was going on the first time Steve Rogers walked into Stark Industries. She saw him across the room with Tony and could only think _What the hell is Jake doing here?_ before she made her way towards him. The last time she had heard anything from or about her second youngest brother was when his adopted sister, Heather, had called with a cracking voice and told her to check the news. Heather hadn't been able to bring herself to say more. Pepper couldn't believe the reports. She _wouldn't_. She hadn't met all of Jake's team, but she knew him. He would never have been involved in the murder of 25 kids. 

"Jake!"

Without pause she wrapped her arms around the large blond man not taking note of his shock at all.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you know how worried Heather and Bethy have been?" She pulled back to stare at him. He'd finally gotten contacts, she was glad to see.

Tony laid his hand on her arm.

"Er, Pepper. I think you've got the wrong guy. This is Captain Steve Rogers. Captain America, remember I was telling you about that SHIELD thing I'm working on?"

Pepper blinked and opened her mouth to deny what Tony was saying, but shut it again as she stared at Steve longer. Jake would never look so clean cut or be so embarrassed by her hug. Her would have scooped her up and spun her around, no matter what she was wearing. Now feeling her own embarrassment, she took a few steps backwards. 

"Excuse me, Captain Rogers. You look...." Disturbingly, uncannily, _heartbreakingly_ "an awful lot like someone I know."

She's mortified to feel her eyes getting damp. People didn't come back from the dead, she knew. 

"Right, Steve this is Pepper Potts, light of my life, best CEO Stark Industries has ever had."

"It's nice to meet you ma'm." The Jake look alike pauses. "Are you alright?"

Pepper nods and plasters her business smile on. 

"Yes, thank you, Captain. If you'll excuse me, though, I have a lot of work to get done today. Tony, I'll see you later tonight." She leaned in and kissed Tony on the cheek before heading back to her office. She was ridiculously grateful when Tony let her go.

Pepper passed grateful and made it to 'suspicious' when he didn't ask about Jake at all that night. After that it was only a matter of waiting to see how long Tony would hold off his curiosity. She knew he wouldn't be able to let go of something that upset her like that for too long. She considered it a testament to how much he wanted their stable-ish relationship to work that he waited two weeks before asking one night over her favorite dinner.

"Who's Jake?"

Tony slipped it in between bites, nonchalantly, as though he didn't really care, but that only gave away how much he was concerned about an unknown man and her reaction to Steve looking like him. Pepper swallowed the food in her mouth and sipped her wine slowly considering what she would tell him. She knew he'd be searching what ever info she gave him with JARVIS the instant she went to work the next day. 

"You know I lost my parents when I was ten and went into the state system."

He nods and for once keeps his mouth closed waiting for her. She wondered if he knew exactly how difficult this was for her. 

"I had siblings. Not _actual_ siblings, but we considered each other like brothers and sisters. My brothers are all....in difficult situations. Most of them went into the military. Jake died almost two years ago under suspicious circumstances. His team was blamed in the incident, but I don't believe that's what actually happened."

Tony nods absorbing what she says as Pepper braces herself for the next question.

"How many of you are there?"

Pepper smiles down at her food.

"Six of us. Tem's the oldest, then me. Nick, Jake, Arthur, and Darlene's the youngest." 

"You said they were in difficult situations? Anything we can do to help?"

A tightness in Pepper's chest that she didn't realize was there released and she relaxed a little more. Of course Tony would offer to help her siblings. She shouldn't have been so worried about telling him, but years of not being able to claim the relationships because they weren't bound by blood had caused her to make a habit of keeping them quiet.

"No, and they wouldn't let us if we could." She hesitates only a moment before launching into the reasons why they can't help. "Tem went AWOL with his team, an A-Team of Army Rangers, Neal's a criminal consultant for the white collar division of the FBI, Jake..., Arthur went MIA from a military program he could never talk about, but he still sends me birthday and Christmas gifts, so I know he's actually okay...and Darcy's in an internship in New Mexico."

Tony blinks.

"No wonder you could put up with all of my messes. None of you do things halfway do you?"

At that point, all Pepper does is laugh, and stand up to go kiss him.


End file.
